When Will He Get Here?

My husband’s job requires him to travel abroad several times a year – usually for about a week at a time. Our family has a routine for his absence and subsequent pick-up from the airport. Recently he returned from such a trip, and so we made our trek to the international arrivals gate at the airport. For some reason all of us were missing him more than usual, and so our anticipation of his return was heightened.

He sent us a text that his plane had landed. Yea! He made it safely. (I breathed a sigh of relief.) Then we waited impatiently for each text that told us where he was in the process of making his way to the gate.

When will he get here?

He flew in on a 747 this time, so it took a while for him to get off the plane and gather his luggage. In the meantime, one of my daughters began the litany of impatience: “Mom, how much longer? When will Daddy be here? It’s taking forever!” To which I replied, “Soon, honey. He’s on his way. It won’t be long now.”

The Easter season is a time of deep reflection. On Good Friday we remember the terrible, yet beautiful, sacrifice that Christ paid for our debt of sin. Easter Sunday we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection – His victory over Death so we can experience Life. Thankfully, Christ gave us The Lord’s Supper as a commemorative act so we would make a habit of looking back – of remembering His sacrifice – more than once a year (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The last verse reminds us that in the same way we look back, we are also to look forward to His promised return.

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

But we are not to simply think, Oh yeah, He’s coming back. Won’t that be great? Like a child eagerly waiting for her father to come home, we are to long for Christ’s return. Lord, when will You get here? How much longer do I have to wait? I want to see You! In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul says, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (emphasis mine)

The night before His death, Christ left His disciples with a great promise. He told them that although He would soon leave them, He would come back and take them with Him to the heavenly home He was preparing (John 14:1-3). Like children desperate to see their father after a long trip, we are to anticipate that day. It won’t be long!